National Scrapbook Day Pages!!!

Guess what I did for National Scrapbook Day? I scrapbooked! And chatted with some of the designers from Design House Digital (they are my new FAV store). And scrapped some more. And then I ran to WalMart, because no Saturday is complete without a nightmare trip to WalMart. And I was so sad because I missed the entire Persnickety Prints chats at DST. I knew I would miss some, but I didn't think WalMart would take THAT long! Later that evening, I took a trip to my local scrapbook store. They are moving to a new location later this month so I snagged some Prima flowers for $2/bottle! Nice!

Anyway, here are some pages that I did over the weekend. This isn't anywhere close to all of them, but just a few!

FYI... Ainsley is an absolute nut. These photos are from last month. She wore that tutu for two straight days and would NOT take it off. It could have been worse... it could have been the witch costume.
credits:
template by (I can't remember who... how embarrassing!)
Kit is Pinfeathers by Carina Gardner at DHD
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Once more, Ainsley being nutty! She found a sheet of sparkly star stickers and stuck one on her forehead. She started giggling and then ran back in her room and proceeded to "bling" the remote control. Nice. I hope Comcast likes bling.
credits:
template - can't remember
Carina Gardner's Pinfeathers
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I promise, I do take pictures of Hannah and scrap them. Promise. This is another of Ainsley being a nut. She put her Dora couch on TOP of the table in the playroom so that she could see the tv better... and then proceeded to fall asleep!
credits:
template - Darcy Baldwin (inspired by rubia) at SSD
Kit is Happier by Deena Rutter at DHD (one of my newest FAV designers!)
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See! Pictures of Hannah. These are from her Aquarium Field Trip last month.
Template by Jen Caputo -PhotoGrids
Kit is Fish are Friends by Misty Cato, MandaBean

template (can't remember designer)
kit: Happier by Deena Rutter at DHD
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Template by Janet Phillips at SSD
Kit by Zoe Pearn at SSD
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These layouts are all created using the newest kit from The Ettes!
Bliss Dig-Ette-al Kit by The Ettes

(this layout also used Dig-Ette-al Templ-Ette Collection 9 by The Ettes)

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and a few more...
When my parents were in town, we finally blessed Ainsley. We only invited our parents so don't get offended if you didn't know about it. :)
Kit by Zoe Pearn at SSD
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This is Ainsley in her gorgeous dress. My parents bought this for me in England before Hannah was ever born. We knew it was too big for a newborn, but I had every intention of having it altered. I am glad I didn't because it fits Ainsley perfectly!
credits:
Kit by Zoe Pearn at SSD
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These are just some silly photos of a silly day
credits:
template by darcy baldwin (inspired by rubia)
happier kit by deena rutter at dhd
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These are more photos from when my parents were here in town. We had my dad's entire family come over to our house. We hung out outside until it got too cold and then headed indoors. We had a lot of fun!
credits:
template by Janet Phillips
kit by misty cato (coming this weekend) to SSD

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alright, well, that was fun! I hope you enjoyed seeing my pages. I have been doing a much more simple style of pages when I have events with multiple photos. It works for me and I feel like I am actually accomplishing something! :)

Decorating the House!

A few weeks I had a miracle happen. It may not seem miraculous to everyone, but for our family, it was one of the greatest gifts we have been given. My parents came out to Utah for a visit. And while that in itself is a small miracle, the greatest part is that they came out to help us settle in our "new" home. We have been here for almost a year and while I have gone through everything once since we have been here, I was overwhelmed about what to do with all the stuff. It just didn't feel like home. I didn't know how to decorate it with the things I had and didn't want to buy a bunch of new things. Enter Super Ruthie and her one-man crew of my Dad. I wish I had taken "before" photos, but trust me, they worked a major miracle in the three days they were here. We still have quite a bit of work to do, but now I know what needs to be done and it's manageable.

to do:
paint ceilings white (possibly add crown molding)
hang new picture over the entertainment center (it's gorgeous and will get an entire post of it's own one day)
replace candles with white or tan fat taper candles

to do:
find a spice rack that I like
figure out where to put the knife rack
make curtains (I have the fabric now)

to do (family room):
hang new photos frames & print pictures

to do (playroom):
hang pictures
paint
hang tutus
get rid of half the toys (don't tell the girls)

to do:
flower arrangements for ainsley's room
hang curtains in ainsley's room
hang photos in ainsley's room
refresh paint on ainsley's headboard
paint red dresser in ainsley's room
make displays for hair bows
hang hooks for coats & backpacks
pack up winter clothes (yeah!)
move mirrors out of the bathroom to my room
find & hang decorative towels
paint & decorate my room (no photos until that's done)
to do:
sew summer skirts for the girls
ahhhh! this room is completely done and it is my own personal heaven. I love it!

I do still have to organize my storage room and go through about seven or eight bins of paper & old photos. Sounds like I need to find a new TV series to rent and watch while I go through things for a week! :)

I love my little house and I finally feel at home here. I am not suffocating in piles of stuff and it is so much easier to keep the house clean when it feels nice. I actually enjoy mopping my kitchen floor every day and vacuuming my floors isn't dangerous anymore (the day before my parents came, a bed frame that was propped in a corner almost fell on my head while I was vacuuming). I always used to say that my house was clean under the clutter. Now the clutter is mostly gone, too, and it's just clean! I love it! I am not sure that Thomas and the kids love that I have reverted to my completely OCD ways.
"Don't put your shoes by the door. I don't care that they have snow on them. Dry them off and put them away."
"Don't leave that cup on my counter."
"Fold that blanket when you are done using it."

And now that the really hard-muscle work is done, I can concentrate on some of the more fun projects. Well, except painting the ceilings. Who wants to come help me with that one? :)